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The Indian benchmark indices opened in green on Thursday as the Sensex rose 500 points from its last close to open at 84,947.37, and the Nifty inched up over 160 points to start trading at over 26,028.

The top gainers in the market included stocks like Infosys, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Titan, and Tech Mahindra. Among the laggards were Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Maruti, Eternal and Sun Pharmaceuticals.

In the broader markets, despite extremely high  volatility, the Nifty 200 index rose by 0.38 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 50 declined by 0.18 per cent. On a sectoral basis, the Nifty IT index outperformed others gaining by 1.95 per cent and the Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 0.24 per cent.

In the pre-open session, at around 9:03 AM, the Sensex was trading at 84,823.71, 397.37 points higher, and the Nifty was trading at 26,043.75 nearly 176 points higher.

Notably, the Gift Nifty index indicated a decline of 44 points around 8:35 AM. However, in the past few sessions, while the domestic markets were closed, the Gift Nifty had jumped more than 300 points.

Easing Trade Tensions

Trade ties between India and the United States appear to be on the mend, with reports indicating that Washington may reduce tariff rates on Indian goods from 59 per cent to around 15 per cent. The move comes as New Delhi moderates its crude oil imports from Russia, and both nations edge closer to a potential trade agreement, Mint reported.

Marking the occasion of Diwali, US President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing their relationship as “very good.” Trump added that Modi was aligned with his views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “He’s not going to buy much oil from Russia. He wants to see that war end as much as I do. They’re not going to be buying too much oil,” Trump said.

Weak Global Cues

Wall Street ended in the red on Wednesday, weighed down by mixed quarterly results and renewed concerns over US-China trade frictions. A sharp sell-off in Netflix shares following weaker-than-expected earnings further dented sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.71 per cent, the S&P 500 declined 0.53 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.93 per cent. Investors also reacted to reports that the Trump administration is considering new restrictions on exports to China involving US-made software, adding to caution across global markets.